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Britney Spears’ Music Being Used To Fight Piracy

If you’re in a ship at sea off the African eastern coast and you see Somali pirates coming toward you—guns are not always necessary. Just blare Britney Spears’ music at them, and they’ll flee.

This is essentially what merchant naval officer Rachel Owens told UK Metro recently, revealing that the music of the US pop songstress –particularly “Oops, I Did It Again” and “Baby One More Time”—has become a sort of secret weapon used by the British Navy to deter the pirates.

“Her songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most,” Second Officer Owens told the publication. ”These guys can’t stand Western culture or music, making Britney’s hits perfect.”

Owens continued, “It’s so effective the ship’s security rarely needs to resort to firing guns. As soon as the pirates get a blast of Britney, they move on as quickly as they can.”

Piracy continues to be a threat for merchant ships traversing the east coast of Africa. The Royal Navy alone keeps a minimum of 14 ships in the region. They can use all the help they can get, and the ships’ security forces have apparently discovered that blaring loud music toward the pirates weakens their resolve. Especially Britney Spears.

Not the greatest thing you’d want said about your music, but hey—Spears is apparently contributing to world peace in her own way.

(Photo: Jen(carnivalridexx)/Flickr/Wikimedia)

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About the Author

David Tillman is an independent composer/arranger whose primary work involves writing jingles for commercials for radio and television, with several film and television placements to his credit as well. David has a fascination for all things related to the music business and the music industry in general, an obsession which his wife finds to be mildly unhealthy at times. His personal tastes in music are in electronica and industrial rock, and include The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and Nine Inch Nails (he loves that Trent Reznor is writing soundtracks!).
When not in his office or in his man-cave, David enjoys skiing, hiking, the occasional game of golf, and sometimes just lounging by the pool. David lives with his wife and three children in Los Angeles, CA.